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‘Lightyear’ banned in 14 markets after same-sex kiss controversy

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Laurent Banguet, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The Buzz Lightyear balloon floats down Sixth Avenue during the Macy" s="" Annual="" Thanksgiving="" Day="" Parade="" in="" New="" York="" City="" November="" Peter="" EPA="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/entertainment/06/15/20220615-buzz-lightyear-balloon-epa.jpg"/><figcaption>The Buzz Lightyear balloon floats down Sixth Avenue during the Macy&#x27;s 87th Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City in November 2013. <em>Peter Foley, EPA/file</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Disney&#x27;s latest animation &quot;Lightyear,&quot; which features a same-sex kiss, has been denied release in more than a dozen mainly Muslim countries, a source close to the company told AFP on Tuesday.</p><p>Countries across Asia and the Middle East have refused to give Pixar&#x27;s &quot;Toy Story&quot; spinoff a showing, in the latest development for parent company Disney as it tries to navigate differing public and political attitudes on LGBTQ issues.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/06/15/22/lightyear-review-just-enjoy-the-ride">&#x27;Lightyear&#x27; review: Just enjoy the ride</a></li></ul><p>Regulators in the United Arab Emirates this week announced they were banning the movie for &quot;violation of the country&#x27;s media content standards,&quot; tweeting a picture of titular hero Buzz Lightyear in a red &quot;No&quot; symbol.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/06/13/22/lightyear-animated-movie-banned-in-uae">&#x27;Lightyear&#x27;, animated film with lesbian kiss, banned in UAE</a></li></ul><p>Indonesia — the world&#x27;s largest Muslim-majority country — said it had not banned the film, &quot;but suggested the owner of the movie think about their audience in Indonesia where an LGBT kissing scene is still considered sensitive.&quot; </p><p>Rommy Fibri Hardiyanto, head of Indonesia&#x27;s censoring office overseen by the Ministry of Education and Culture, told AFP that Disney has not offered a re-cut version of &quot;Lightyear.&quot;</p><p>In neighbouring Malaysia, the Film Censorship Board said if cuts were not made the film would not be screened in the country.</p><p>&quot;It is not appropriate to show the two scenes, and they are not suitable to be viewed by children,&quot; an official, who declined to be named, told AFP.</p><p>Disney is understood to have declined to make any cuts, offering the film &quot;as is&quot; in all markets.</p><p>As a result, a total of 14 countries and territories where the company wanted to show &quot;Lightyear&quot; have not granted the film a release, AFP has learned.</p><p>The others are: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, the Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Syria.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2069558" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div><strong>- Backstory -</strong></div><p>&quot;Lightyear&quot; tells the backstory of the main character from the hit franchise &quot;Toy Story&quot;, an action figure who believes he is real.</p><p>The film follows Buzz Lightyear — supposedly the astronaut adventurer that inspired the figurine — as he and his fellow space rangers crash land on a hostile planet.</p><p>One scene depicts Buzz&#x27;s best friend Alisha Hawthorne kissing her wife.</p><p>The scene was already the subject of controversy in the United States, where it had originally been cut from the final film.</p><p>Pixar and Disney backtracked after employees called them out, saying one of the world&#x27;s largest entertainment companies was not sufficiently committed to defending the rights of LGBTQ people.</p><p>The controversy came on the heels of a law adopted in Florida, where Disney employs some 75,000 people, which bans the discussion of sexual orientation in public schools. The company was initially silent on the measure.</p><p>Under pressure from the public and his own employees, Disney CEO Bob Chapek eventually denounced the so-called &quot;Don&#x27;t Say Gay&quot; law, but in doing so drew the ire of Republican lawmakers in the state.</p><p>Conservative politicians are now seeking to remove certain perks the company has long enjoyed.</p><p>The episode has led to Disney becoming a whipping boy for right-wing media, where the name is shorthand for what they say is performative &quot;wokeness.&quot;</p>

Disney's latest animation has been denied release in more than a dozen mainly Muslim countries, a source close to the company told AFP on Tuesday.

‘Lightyear’ banned in 14 markets after same-sex kiss controversy

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‘Lightyear’ banned in 14 markets after same-sex kiss controversy

Laurent Banguet,

Agence France-Presse

Published Jun 15, 2022 07:43 AM PHT

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same-sex kiss

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